Wrench.



A. STEPFAN.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4, 1915.

1 174:, 1 94:. V Patenfied Mar. 7, 1916.

jnveni'ori mfg/As:

\HE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co, WASHINGTON. D. c.

piarrnn srarns PATENT orifice.

ANTON STEPFAN, or roman MILLS, MICHIGAN.

WRENCH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AN'ioN STEPFAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Point Mills, in the county of Houghton and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements, in l/Vrenches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to wrenches, and particularly to pipe wrenches.

It has for its object to provide a new and improved wrench capable of being used in connection with many different sizes of pipe, and also well adapted for use upon pipe in places comparatively diiiicult ofaccess, as where the pipe is placed against a wall; Heretofore, so far "as I am aware, there has been no satisfactory pipe wrench produced capable of efiicient operation in such circumstances, and my invention is designed par-, ticularly to meet the need of mechanics for such a tool.

I accomplish the objects of my invention as illustrated in the drawings and as hereinafter described. That which I regard as new is set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view; Fig. 2 is an edge view; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Referring to the drawings, &5 indicate two levers having jaws 67, respectively, provided with serrated teeth, in the usual way. These jaws are oppositely disposed with reference to each other and are mounted upon two rods 89, respectively, which are pivoted together at a point between the jaws by a pivot 10, shown in Fig. 1. VVing-nuts 11 12 are screwed, respectively, upon the rods 8.9 outside of the levers 45 and serve to limit the extent to which the jaws may move apart. Springs lit-14 are mounted on the rods 89, IGSPEC. tively, between the pivot 10 and the levers 4.5, preferably bearing in recesses in said levers, as indicated by dotted lines, which springs serve to press the jaws outwardly against the wing-nuts 1112. 1

15 indicates an operating lever or handle, which is pivotally connected by a pivot 16 between its ends, preferably at a point near its inner end, with the pivot 10 by links 17- 18, as illustrated in the drawings.

19 indicates links connecting the inner end portion of the lever 4 with the handle 15 at a point back of the pivot 16, and 20 indicates Patented Mar. *7, 1916.

Application filed. October 4, 1915. Serial No. 53,955.

links connecting the inner end of the lever 5 with the handle 15 at the opposite side of the pivot 16 from the connection of the links 19 therewith. One of the levers, as 4, is preferably longer than the other, as shown in Fig. 1. A tension spring 21 connected with the levers 4-5 back of the pivot 10 tends to swing the jaws apart and hold the handle in line with the pivot 10.

The operation of my improved wrench is as follows: lVhen the parts are in their normal position, the jaws 67 are separated by the springs 131l and 21 as far as the wing nuts 11-12 will permit, so that the wrench is ready to be applied to the pipe. If the jaws are not sufficiently separated to receive a pipe of the size to be operated upon, they may be allowed to separate farther by unscrewing the wing-nuts 1112, or if they are separated too widely, they may be moved together by means of said nuts. The wrench is applied to the pipe by endwise movement, so that even if the pipe be close against a wall, it is still accessible. When the wrench has been applied to the pipe, the lever is swung in the proper direction, rocking about the pivot 16. This swings the links l920 insuch manner as to move the inner ends of the levers 4 -5 outward, bringing the jaws closer together and gripping the pipe. This gripping action takes place just as soon as the handle 15 begins to swing, so that the preliminary movement of the handle necessary to make the jaws grip the pipe is very slight. Of course, the harder the handle is moved to one side, the tighter the pipe is gripped, so that there is no danger that the jaws will slip. The wrench is so applied to the pipe that the teeth of the jaws will bite into it when the handle is moved in the direction in whic hthe pipe is to be turned. It will be noted that by my improved construction there is a very wide range of adjustability, and any desired adjustment may be very easily accomplished. Furthermore,

the jaws are normally open ready to be applied to the pipe when the handle is in line with the pivot 10, so that the tool is always ready for instant application to the pipe.

So far as I am aware, no one has hereto-,

fore provided a wrench of this character having two opposed movable jaws pivotally connected together and adjustable to vary their normal distance apart. My invention i is therefore generic in character as to this feature.

That which I claim as invention, and

able jaws, adjustable means limiting the extent to which said, jaws may open, means tending normally to move said jaws apart,

and a lever connected with said jaws and adapted to be swung to close the same.

2. A wrench, comprising a pair of movable jaws, means limiting the extent to which said jaws may open, one or more springs normally holding said jaws open, and a lever connected with said jaws and adapted to be swung to close the same. a

3. A wrench, comprising a pair of oppositely-disposed jaws, means pivotally connecting said jaws together, so that they may swing toward and from each other insubstantially the same plane, means for varying the extent to which said jaws may open, and a lever pivotally connected with said jaws and adapted to be swung to close the same.

4. A wrench, comprising a pair of jaws, rods upon which said jaws are respectively mounted, said rods being pivotally connected together, a lever connected with said rods and with said jaws, whereby by swinging said lever said jaws may be operated, and means for varying the extent to which said jaws may open.

5. A wrench, comprising a pair of. jaws, rods upon which said jaws are respectively mounted, a lever connected with said rods between said jaws and with said jaws, whereby by swinging said lever said jaws may be operated, and nuts mounted on said rods for varying the extent to which said jaws may open.

6. A wrench, comprising a pair of jaws, rods upon which said jaws are respectively mounted, a lever connected with said rods between said jaws and with said jaws, whereby by swinging said lever said jaws may be operated, and means for normally holding said jaws apart.

7. A wrench, comprising a pair of jaws, rods pivotally connected together, said jaws being mounted upon said rods, a lever connected with said rods and with said jaws, whereby by swinging said lever said jaws may be operated, nuts mounted on said rods for varying the extent to which said aws a tension spring connected with said may be operated, nuts mounted on said rods for varyingv the extent to which said jaws may open, springs mounted on said rods for normally holding said jaws apart, and jaws back of said rods.

9. A wrench, comprising jaws, rods upon which said jaws are mounted, a pivot connecting said rods, a handle, links connect-' ing said handle with said pivot, and links connecting the inner ends of said jaws with said handle at opposite sides of the connection therewith of said first-mentioned links.

10. A wrench, comprising jaws, rods upon which said jaws are mounted, a pivot connecting said rods, a handle, links connecting said handle with said pivot, links connecting the inner ends of said jaws with said handle at opposite sides of the connection therewith of said first-mentioned links, and means for normally pressing said jaws apart.

11. A wrench, comprising jaws, rods upon which said jaws are mounted, a pivot connecting said rods, a handle, links connecting said handle with said pivot, links connecting .the inner ends of said jaws with said handle at opposite sides of the connec tion therewith of said first-mentioned links, and nuts on said rods for varying the extent to which said jaws may open.

12. A wrench, comprising a pair of jaws, rods upon which said jaws are respectively mounted, and a lever connected with said rods between said jaws and with said jaws, whereby by swinging said lever said jaws may be operated.

13. A wrench, comprising a pair of jaws, rodsupon which said jaws are respectively mounted between their ends, and a lever pivotally connected with said rods between said jaws and with the adjacent end portions of said jaws.

14:. A wrench, comprising a pair of jaws,

rods upon which said jaws are respectively mounted between their ends, a lever pivotally connected with said rods between said jaws and with the adjacent end portions of said jaws, and means for normally holding the jaws apart.

15. A wrench, comprising jaws, rods upon which said jaws are mounted, said rods being pivotally connected together between said jaws, a handle, links connectingthe handle with said rods between said jaws, and means connecting the inner end portions of said jaws'with said handle at opposite sides of the connection therewith of said links.

ANTON STEPFAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 01 Patents,

Washington, D. C. i v 

